Out and about in Rosario

 

Rosario vies with Mendoza and Cordoba for being the second largest city in Argentina (after Buenos Aires).  The 3 cities each have a population of roughly 1 million.  Rosario is where the flag of the Republic of Argentina was first raised, and is known as the Birthplace of the Flag, but in Spanish it translates as the Cradle of the Flag!  Each year there is a public holiday on the 20th June, Flag Day, which includes all the state formalities and ceremonies that go with a patriotic holiday.  The president goes to the ceremony in Rosario, which is held at the National Flag Monument, a monolithic creation of concrete which is meant to represent a ship, and has a lookout tower you can go up to look out over the river and the city. 

Here are some photos from when the Grossos took Steve, Amy and I for a bit of sightseeing. 

The fishermen selling the catch of the day…all taken from the river Paraná.  The locals love it, but for someone brought up on salt-water fish, it’s not my first choice!  Sorry I only know their Spanish names, don’t know what they’re called in English

They LOOK nice, pity they taste like mud!!!!

In front of a park, the date is done with plants, and they change it everyday.

A novel way of wearing your helmet.

The oven-bird’s nest, likes just like the mud-ovens they use here.  The birds in the tree AREN’T oven-birds, they’re parrots.

Big tree-roots

These trees are called Palo Borracho, which means drunken stick (didn’t Gerald Durrell write a book about Argentina called The Drunken Forest??). They produce these seed thingies whch burst open, looks like cotten, feels like kapoc.

The bridge over the Paraná that unites two provinces, Santa Fe and Entre Rios.  Before this bridge was built, the only way to get to the city on the other side, was in a ferry, or travelling 300kms north to go through the tunnel, and come back down 300kms on the other side of the river!  Note the extra space between the upright supports on the first section – to allow the ocean-going ships through. 

…ships such as this. 

The front part of the Flag Monument – the ‘prow’ of the ship it’s meant to represent.

Behind the ‘figure-head’ are written great patriotic words about the sacredness of the constitution of a country. 

Looking toward the back of the ‘ship’.  Up the steps and under the arches is the eternal flame to the memory of the Unknown Soldier.  These Latin countries have a long bloody military history, conflict and wars waged to gain their independence, and it’s very evident in their patriotism, ceremonies and many of the public holidays are to honour their liberator from the Spanish, or prominent occasions in their fight for independence.  The children are taught from primary school about dates and military generals and what they did, where and when.  Year after year, they’ll reenact Independence Day, with the kids dressed up in period costume.  They have ceremonies at school on all the public holidays that have something to do with the founding of the country.  Very different to our history in NZ.

This is a very cool lighting effect inside the tower of the monument, done to represent the flag.  There is also a statue of General Belgrano, the soldier who raised the flag for the first time, and inscribed on the walls all around the dome are the names of places where battles of note were fought. 

There were several school groups the day we went, kids everywhere (it was a Saturday too).

There happened to be a Brazilian frigate docked on the river the day we were in town, it was open to the public so we jumped aboard…

Achtung!!  Schweinehunt!!  Looks like Steve’s read too many German textbooks!!!